Umno unleashed a two-pronged approach to paralyse PAS way ahead of the GE14.

(FMT) - PAS' organisational structure is also modelled based on the administration of a Syiah majority nation – Iran.

The 67th Umno general assembly that ended last Saturday revealed that Umno is hurt due to the PAS-DAP alliance; as they battle to win the hearts and minds of the majority of the electorate – the Malays.

To overcome this, Umno has unleashed its two-pronged approach, similar to the carrot and stick strategy to totally paralyse PAS within the next five years before General Election 14 which is due in 2018.

Umno is using its carrot and stick approach via a blitzkrieg and an olive branch. It has given PAS two options based on Cold War mentality.

(Blitzkrieg refers to German's attacking forces of dense concentration of mechanised infantry formations used during World War I.)

Umno's message to PAS is: You are either with us or against us. The nationalist Umno is currently launching its blitzkrieg in its veiled anti-Syiah campaign.

PAS spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat was spot on when he said that the anti-Syiah campaign the Umno vice president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced was an all out campaign against the minority Syiah community in PAS.

"Don't claim yourselves as defenders of Islam by bashing the Syiah. The society is smart to assess that it is not the Syiah who are under attack but the opposition who are gaining more support," said Nik Aziz in a statement that was put up on Monday.

"If one truly wants to eradicate them, just arrest them. The question here is how do you conduct the arrest when there are deviants within your own party," added Nik Aziz, alluding to Umno leaders.

The reaction of Nik Aziz is similar to Umno vice president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's declaration that he would go all out against the Syiah.

Zahid's attack

"We are surprised on how PAS can elect a Syiah as their number two leader," said Ahmad Zahid

"(Minister in Prime Minister's Department) Jamil Khir (Baharom), I empower you with the Home Ministry to take action," Ahmad Zahid who is also the Home Minister said while delivering his wrap up speech at Umno's 67th annual general.

Ahmad Zahid was hinting at PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu without naming him.

In a related development, Jamil had said that political leanings would not be a factor in curbing Syiah teachings.

While it is true that there are Syiah followers in both the Malay Muslim based parties, PAS would be most affected in the event of a clampdown on the community.

Majority of the Syiah community have tendencies to put an 'X' for PAS instead of Umno. They are also predominant in the Malay heartland states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Kedah where PAS is Umno's biggest threat.

PAS' organisational structure is also modelled based on the administration of a Syiah majority nation – Iran.

The Dewan Ulama within PAS was established during Yusof Rawa's tenure as PAS' president and spiritual adviser from October 1982 to March 1989. Prior to that Yusof was also Malaysia's diplomat to Iran.

The blitzkrieg on PAS is vital to BN component parties because while PAS lost about seven percent of the Malay votes in the 13th general election, nevertheless it managed to created a stronghold in mixed constituencies such as Kota Raja, which was previously held by MIC.

To paraphrase an idiom, when General Umno sneezes, its BN lieutenants catches cold.

Pakatan must realise that Umno is a formidable opponent with deep pockets, large armies and an uncanny ability to go into the elections with all the positives stacked in their favour.

(FMT) - As always, in Malaysia, political affiliations and loyalties are broken down to the basics – how much is on offer and damn the electorates, "good governance, public integrity, accountability, respect for democracy and human rights, moderation and tolerance"…all that Lim Kit Siang talked about at the Empire Hotel Ballroom, recently.

"Based on present redelineation, Pakatan Rakyat should aim to win 135 parliamentary seats in GE14 to capture Putrajaya, with PKR, PAS and DAP each winning 45 seats and a parliamentary majority of 48.

"The performance of the Pakatan parties in the 2008 and 2013 GEs have shown that the three component parties have their basic strengths.

"If we are prepared to persevere in a common patriotic cause – to save the country from corruption, cronyism, abuses of power, exploitation of the poor and downtrodden regardless of race, religion or region, extremism and intolerance.

"And put in place good governance, public integrity, accountability, respect for democracy, human rights, moderation and tolerance, we have no reason to be pessimistic about the future of the country or the outcome of the GE14." – DAP's Lim Kit Siang.

Based on this statement made by Lim Kit Siang, it would seem that Pakatan has already won the GE14 and will form the next government come 2018, or thereabouts.

Lim is quite confident even as the Umno-led Barisan Nasional is slowly but surely dismantling whatever "basic strengths" and "common patriotic case" that Pakatan may have to save this country from the corruption, cronyism and abuse of power perpetrated by the BN government.

Let's examine the facts.

Am I to believe that with all the overwhelming overt evidence of foul play, vote rigging, phantom, pendatang's and illegal voters that number in the thousands (so Pakatan tell us), nothing can be done to present irrefutable evidence to the courts to overturn ANY of the GE13 results?

If not the courts, why not present the evidence to the people and let us make up our own minds?

To date, nothing worth talking about has been done to substantiate the claims of vote rigging.

If Pakatan claims that the Malaysian courts only do the bidding of their political masters, then can someone explain to me why Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of Sodomy Two?

The irresponsible actions of Pakatan in convening the Blackout 505 protests very quickly lost its momentum and became a predictable washout once the public realised the futility of it all.

Energy could have been better spent if Pakatan had responsibly galvanised the 53 percent electoral support they received at the GE13 and channeled it into an orderly structured mass movement that would eventually make BN understand that Pakatan is a political force to be reckoned with.

But this would require a massive, sustained and disciplined effort by Pakatan -something I suspect Pakatan is unable to do.

BN consolidating its hold

What has BN been doing since then?

Najib Tun Razak is firmly at the helm of Umno and BN. Given that he was unable to take back Selangor nor regain two-thirds majority in parliament, that by itself, is testament that BN is seriously consolidating its hold on power and making necessary adjustments to the realities of politics as it is post GE13.

Attacks on the Chinese voters have not abated – a politically astute decision by Umno given that MCA lost the Chinese votes to DAP.

2020 is significant because it is the year in which Malaysia expects to leave the crib of developing nations and enter the world of developed nations.

Rama Ramanathan, The Malaysian Insider

10th December was International Human Rights Day. This year, the date marks the 65th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 1948.

This year, the date has been chosen to also mark the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993.

The Vienna Declaration defined the vision. The Programme (plan) of Action created the means for making real progress towards that vision.

One of the things the UN excels at – and which makes it slow to release any document of significance – is working consultatively and collaboratively. The UN Secretary General's Message for 2013 Human Rights Day noted that preparation of the Vienna vision and programme "involved the participation of more than 800 NGO's, treaty bodies and academics."

To observe the date this year, the UN and Suhakam (Malaysia's Human Rights Commission) hosted a discussion in Kuala Lumpur titled "Road to 2020: Human Rights and Development".

In the context of Malaysia, it is important to recognize that we are one of the few nations which publish and implement 5 year National Development Plans. We are on our 10th plan (2011-2015) since independence. Less than a week ago, on 5th December, the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department held the kick-off meeting for developing the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 -2020).

2020 is significant because it is the year in which Malaysia expects to leave the crib of developing nations and enter the world of developed nations.

In public discourse, the goal of Vision 2020 is measured in average per capita income, with a goal of $15,000 per head of population.

The focus on income is not surprising in a country with burgeoning debt (according to the BBC, 60 Malaysians declare bankruptcy daily), and credit markdowns by international ratings agencies (Fitch and S&P).

Public discourse needs to reintroduce into the conversation all 9 strategic goals of Vision 2020 – goals which give much consideration to Human Rights. Here's a quick summary of the goals:

- A united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared destiny.- A psychologically liberated, secure... society with faith and confidence in itself.- A mature democratic society, practising... consensual, community-oriented... democracy.- A fully moral and ethical society... imbued with the highest of ethical standards.- A matured, liberal and tolerant society... free to practise and profess... religious beliefs.- A scientific and progressive society... innovative and forward-looking.- A fully caring society and a caring culture... strong and resilient family system.- An economically just society... fair and equitable distribution of the wealth.- A prosperous society, with an economy... fully competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.

The discussion was pregnant with meaning. The passion and patriotism of the panellists was crystal clear. Vision 2020 was recognized as the shared national vision and a note of urgency permeated the discussion.

The following paragraphs provide consensus assessments of where we are on our journey to 2020, and what we need to do to recover the direction and resume the pace of the journey.

7 years to 2020: assessments and recommendations

1. GTP and MDG. At the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva in October we convinced our peers that our Government Transformation Program (GTP) is moving us forward in economic development, in particular creating 3.3 million jobs. Malaysia has achieved its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) ahead of time. This should mean good news in terms of right to housing, health and security. We must all be vigilant that public discourse about the GTP doesn't focus on economic prosperity at the expense of Human Rights.

2. UN Treaties. Vast attention is being given to restrictions on Human Rights in Malaysia due to the awakening of civil society. At the UPR, our peers gave overwhelmingly told us to ratify UN instruments. Yet, we still have not set dates for ratifying 6 of 9 core Human Rights treaties. We have even placed reservations on the treaties we have ratified. We must set targets and implement processes to ratify all the treaties and remove more reservations.

3. 11th Malaysia Plan. Although Suhakam is established by law, by the Yang di Pertuan Agung, to advise the government on human rights, the government doesn't listen to Suhakam. This is said by Suhakam, vast numbers of NGO's and international observers. We continue to think of Human Rights Plans as auxiliary to Development plans, not integral to them. The government must work with Suhakam and ensure the 11th Malaysia plan is based upon clearly spelt out (using UN language) Human Rights principles.

4. The people are ready, but the government is lethargic. The issues and concerns raised during the 13th General Elections are clear, thanks to the ease with which the New Media can be monitored. Citizens – who are better educated, urbanized and have moved into the middle class with its associated values – have expressed their hopes and expectations: the rakyat say they are ready for change, yet the government says otherwise. The government must tap the mood and energy of the people by more effectively engaging civil society.

5. The government still behaves like it's superior to NGOs. National leaders and heads of Government departments continue to view those who criticize current policies, implementation and results, as adversaries. They do not welcome members of civil society to discussion tables as equal partners; rather, they see them as people to be superficially consulted, e.g. by drinking tea together and having a meal together, rather than working together to craft new approaches to solve long-standing problems. The government must set clear measures to assess the outcomes of dialogue sessions – policy changes must be traceable to inputs from civil society.

6. Human rights defenders. The vilification of Comango by a handful of vocal NGO's and by some members of the government – including one Minister – signals disrespect for Human Rights on the part of the government. It also signals a lack of seriousness in pursuing all that is in Vision 2020. It will not do for the government to invite NGO's to share the burden, and then vilify the NGO's for doing so. National leaders must speak up to protect the UPR process and the participation of NGO's.

7. Political will. A recurrent theme was the recognition that change cannot happen without political will, i.e. a readiness to take firm positions, even if such decisions mean loss of perceived or actual popular support. It is not possible to please everyone all the time. National leaders must stop encouraging identity-politics and must start dismantling it.

8. A litany of embarrassments. On the world scene, we are amongst the last to ratify international covenants; we do not debate Suhakam's report in Parliament; we do not have a National Human Rights Action Plan; we pursue development at the cost of Human Rights (especially in the area of land rights); we tolerate the vilification and demonization of Human Rights defenders.

(L- R) Deputy president Gan Ping Sieu, Vice president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and former President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat. MCA now faces challenges it had never faced before: a landslide support of the Chinese community to the opposition because they are longing for change.

(fz.com) - There is no easy solution to MCA's problems no matter who is elected as the party president in the coming party poll.

Former president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat may enjoy a reputation as a bold and vocal leader, but he had lost some support for his role in escalating the party infighting in the 2009 – 2010 period.

Second line leader Vice president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has political and governing experience, but he is seen as indecisive and his performance in recent years has not been very inspiring.

Deputy president Gan Ping Sieu, the youngest among the three leaders, with less baggage may seem to be able to bring some fresh air into the party but his leadership skills remain untested.

The continuous party infighting and the inability of the party to bring about an equal distribution of political, economic and social opportunities for the different communities in the country within the BN power-sharing model are among the reasons for the disastrous defeat of the party in the last general election.

Within ten years, MCA's share of seats had dropped drastically from 31 parliamentary seats and 76 state seats in 2004 to seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats in 2013.

It may seem like too little, too late has been done to help the party emerge from its current political turbulence. However, it may not be a totally hopeless case if some drastic measures are put in place.

Reform, the main thrust of Liow's manifesto, or going back to the core values of the party, the crux of Gan's manifesto, or Ong's fighting to restore the dignity of the party may be beautiful words, but can the new leadership deliver what they promise, that is, to win back the support of the Chinese community?

The Chinese community certainly doubts it, and as a matter of fact, they don't really care anymore. They have ditched the MCA because they were disappointed in the non-performance of the party in forging a nation in which everyone is equal and not called "outsiders" and asked to "go back to China."

To put things into perspective, MCA now faces challenges it had never faced before: a landslide support of the Chinese community to the opposition because they are longing for change.

The Chinese voters had chosen the agenda offered by the opposition that strives for transparency, good governance and equality, against the services offered by the MCA for the past 64 years.

In a paper on the realignment of Chinese politics after GE13, political scientist Phoon Wing Keong said that the Chinese community had clearly shifted their political alignment, and this shifting is a rare occurrence which could lead to a realignment of the party system.

He observed that in the previous elections before 2008, the political party identification of the Chinese had always been stable, with the exception of 1969 general election, in which all the Chinese-based parties namely MCA, Gerakan, DAP and SUPP, managed to get their Chinese support base. This has changed in the 2013 GE.

Phoon believed that the main reason is that the current political system based on religious and racial differences is no longer working after many new issues concerning policy making and governance have surfaced, in addition to the emergence of a cross-community social movement. Hence, the Islamic state or hudud law issues constantly raised by the MCA could no longer scare the Chinese.

Also, he said, the MCA is losing its political function within the government system in order to connect with the voters. Further, it is seen as running away from pressing political issues, and as having lost its ability to put forward independent discourse, thus it lacks legitimacy within the Chinese community.

A long time political observer, Phoon has been very critical of the MCA under the leadership of former president Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, in which the party had focused on issues unrelated to politics, such as the launch of the Lifelong Learning Campaign.

"The Chinese community has clearly stated that they are prepared to bid farewell to MCA in the 2013 GE. In hoping to return to the mainstream of politics, MCA doesn't seem to grapple with this spirit of the times. Instead it has made a wrong judgment and used the 'no-cabinet-post' threat to hold the mainstream popular opinion of the Chinese community to ransom, and as a result, was swallowed by it," Phoon said.

He said that the Chinese-based BN component parties must look seriously into the drastic drop of support in the two past consecutive elections and admit that their popular foundation has been severely damaged.

Another issue is that one of MCA's biggest problems is its perceived lack of ideology or vision.

Ng Nyen Fah, Director of the Centre for Chinese Studies, said that MCA has yet to find a formula that could make the Chinese community feel that they have a place in this country.

The problem arises for liberals when citizens exercise their autonomy in a way that turns out to be hostile to autonomy itself. These rights permit citizens to develop homophobic, racist, or other views that deny the autonomy of others. But if these citizens try to gain enough support to turn these views into law, the liberal state steps in to prevent them from doing so. It will declare such laws unconstitutional and liberal courts will strike these down.

Rueban Balasubramaniam, The Malay Mail

Right-wing defenders of ethno-Islamist rule criticise Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for advancing a "liberal" political programme. They say that under such a programme, society would be too individualistic and subversive of important and traditional values.

And this would not only challenge a Malay-Muslim vision of society but other conservative Malaysian values. In gist, PR's political programme would threaten the ethical identity of the state.

How should we respond to this critique?

Perhaps we might dismiss this critique as grounded in false assumptions about the ethical character of a group. All groups consist of individuals. And since individuals have rational and moral powers of judgement, which they are bound to exercise in ways that lead to disagreement about ethics, morality, religion, and politics, group-life will be marked by disagreements about value or what may be termed the fact of pluralism. Therefore, it is false to suppose that there is anything that can be identified as a group ethic or morality.

This objection to the critique is powerful but perhaps too quick. For, like it or not, ethno-Islamists have an actual basis of support in people who worry about the rise of the liberal state in Malaysia. And there are others who have nothing to do with the ethno-Islamist agenda who think the rise of a liberal society may pose dangers to their particular values and beliefs.

What exactly is this worry about liberalism?

Jurgen Habermas, arguably the world's leading living political philosopher, has identified precisely the kind of problem that I think is buried in the right-wing ethno-Islamist critique of PR, the worry that liberalism turns out to be hostile to those who adhere to values and beliefs that are hostile to liberalism itself.

Liberalism's core value is individual autonomy, that is, the individual's rational and moral powers to set, revise, and pursue his or her plan of life. This ideal explains liberalism's emphasis on individual rights and freedoms as necessary for the meaningful exercise of these powers. These rights are central to the individual's powers of autonomous self-realization.

It follows that liberals affirm the importance of the fact of pluralism as the mark of a healthy liberal society. If people are given a set of rights so they can attain their autonomy, then they are apt to also disagree about ethics, morality, religion, and politics. It is therefore important for the liberal state to embrace the principle of "toleration" in ensuring ample space for different ethical, moral, religious, and political perspectives as part of a healthy political culture.

The problem arises for liberals when citizens exercise their autonomy in a way that turns out to be hostile to autonomy itself. These rights permit citizens to develop homophobic, racist, or other views that deny the autonomy of others. But if these citizens try to gain enough support to turn these views into law, the liberal state steps in to prevent them from doing so. It will declare such laws unconstitutional and liberal courts will strike these down.

Hence, as Habermas argues, contemporary liberalism is defined by a serious contradiction: it grants individuals rights to pursue their individual autonomy and encourages the fact of pluralism. But because there is no guarantee that the pluralism that will arise is "reasonable" (disagreement within the boundaries of liberal autonomy) and may instead be "deep" (disagreement beyond the boundaries of liberal autonomy), the liberal state will end up simultaneously encouraging and discouraging the fact of pluralism. In this, the liberal state will seem oppressive to those who are drawn to deeply pluralistic views.

In its best iteration, I think the ethno-Islamist critique of PR alludes to this contradiction. Here, I am not suggesting that ethno-Islamists self-consciously make this objection. But their critique does signal a very serious political challenge for PR that goes beyond everyday political swashbuckling, the challenge that PR's political programme is intolerant of deep pluralism.

The challenge is serious because it has to do with the prospects of long-term social co-operation in Malaysia. Any plausible political programme for Malaysia must adequately respond to the fact of deep pluralism and must be able to engage perspectives that may turn out to be hostile to the liberal ideal of autonomy. Otherwise, citizens whose perspectives are not engaged are apt to view any proposed political programme as a threat to their values and sense of identity so they will not find it rational and reasonable to support that programme.

Currently, PR responds by saying that right-wing ethno-Islamists misunderstand liberalism. But this response does not address the present problem, which requires that PR explain the values that underlie its political programme and show how those values justify the practical aspects of that programme. As well, the explanation must reveal why it is both rational and reasonable for deeply disagreeing citizens to endorse the programme.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence that PR has addressed this complex and daunting "liberal" challenge. As a coalition that wishes to construct a meaningful political alternative for Malaysians, it must address this challenge or run the risk of reproducing the evils of oppression and intolerance that increasingly beset Malaysian politics. PR must resist the impression that it may be intolerant of groups that do not endorse the ideal of liberal autonomy if it seeks to achieve its goal of supplying an adequate political alternative to the status quo.* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

(Harakah) - If Home Ministry truly believes in the ten evidences they revealed today to conclude that PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu is practising Shia, why not just arrest him?

Why Home Ministry needs to take the route of much fanfare, stirring media hype and creating public anticipation only to reveal such weak evidences, quoting blog writers, third party's sources and Mat Sabu's speeches to accuse the latter follows Shia teachings?

As PAS secretary general Mustafa Ali aptly puts it – the evidences presented by Home Ministry were too vague and far from being able to use to convict Mat Sabu being involved in Shia.

Shia allegation against Mat Sabu is not new, but nothing was as official as today when Home Ministry, in a special press conference, had publicly named Mat Sabu as the person UMNO vice president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi labelled as "PAS number 2" in his closing speech at UMNO General Assembly last weekend.

Instead of Zahid, it was Home Minister secretary-general Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi who did the dirty job today. Why?

The more one looks at the whole drama, the more it looks like Mat Sabu is being used as a decoy, not for Malaysian masses, but for the Malay voters, most probably to divert the attention from the amount of bad news about price hikes being spewed by UMNO-BN government since the Budget 2014 was known.

No doubt, the latest move by Home Minister had prompted Mat Sabu to take legal action against Zahid and Rahim.

In a statement issued from Langkawi, he said he had asked his lawyers to take further action against the slander levelled against him.

"Zahid has always an irresponsible record. He had previously issued a statement in Malacca calling to 'shoot first, investigate later'," said Mat Sabu, adding that the Shia accusation by Zahid as UMNO vice president and also Home Minister had also tarnished the government and country's image.

On the surface, it looks like a personal attack on Mat Sabu.

Deep down, it is just another UMNO's ploy to prevent PAS for gaining the upper hands in securing Malay votes by creating a public perception that PAS is somehow involved 'forbidden' ties with Shia teachings.

Home Ministry under Zahid had made their move. Now, it's time for PAS to strike back, hard.

By equating money being illegally taken out of the country with corruption, the opposition is suggesting that by eliminating corruption this would automatically stop money from leaving Malaysia. This is a gross distortion of what is really happening.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Actually, we have discussed this matter some time ago, long before Najib Tun Razak became the Prime Minister.

The opposition wants Najib to stem the tide (to quote what they said). They also say that RM174 billion was siphoned out of the country in 2011 and, according to Rafizi Ramli, this more or less confirms the close association between corruption and money illegally leaving the country.

The opposition may have a point that money illegally gained (meaning through corruption) would be taken out of the country, as it would be dangerous to leave it in the country (since it is dirty money).

However, the opposition is oversimplifying things plus is misleading the people as to what is really going on. Not all the money that has left Malaysia is dirty money. A fair bit is clean money as well.

And, as I said, we have been discussing this matter since far back, long before Najib Tun Razak became Prime Minister. But if you want to blame Najib for it and if you demand that he stop this, you may not quite like what you will see in the end.

I remember saying, years ago, that we have too many foreign workers in Malaysia (both legal as well as illegal workers). Some have put the estimates as high as five million.

According to friends in the banking industry, every month billions are sent home by these foreign workers. And this has been going on for years. This is not something new.

If for the last 30 years (which comes to 360 months) billions every month leaves the country, just imagine what the total is by now.

Let us work the simple arithmetic. Say each of the five million foreign workers sends an average of just RM200 per person home. That comes to RM1 billion per month or RM12 billion per year. And the bankers tell me it is more than RM1 billion per month.

And the culprits are the moneychangers. Hence if Malaysia bans and closes down all moneychangers then the foreign workers would have to send their money home through the banks.

We then will have to pass a law making it illegal for foreign workers to send money home. They can make their money and spend it in Malaysia. They cannot send the money home.

We will also have to pass a law that a person can carry only RM1,000 when they leave the country. The customs will do a 100% check on all people leaving Malaysia to make sure that they do not smuggle out more than RM1,000 when they leave Malaysia.

Do you really think this is viable? Would tourists visit Malaysia when they have to leave their money in the country and not take out more than RM1,000?

My Chinese friends (some of them who are financial consultants) tell me that the Malaysian Chinese have been moving their money overseas for quite a long time now. I have met people from Tan Cheong who have been investing in China since the 1980s. I have spoken to people from Boon Siew, Genting, etc., who have said the same thing. They have been slowly moving billions out of the country over the last 30 years. And Malaysian Chinese hoteliers have been setting up hotels in China since the 1970s even before Malaysia had diplomatic relations with China.

And this is not dirty money. It is clean money. But it is money made in Malaysia and shifted to other countries.

Malaysians have been buying property all over the world (in particular in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, etc.) -- Malays, Chinese, Indians and East Malaysians included. And this has been going on for a long time and comes to billions.

And this, too, is not dirty money but clean money. And a lot of this money is clean money that tax has not been paid. Hence these are tax evaders who send their money overseas because they cannot account for it. And not all these people are Umno or Barisan Nasional people. Many whom I personally know are in fact Pakatan Rakyat supporters.

So let us not oversimplify the issue. Not all the money is dirty money. Not all these people are government people or corrupt Malays.

One way Najib can solve this is to do what Zambia did. Najib can demonitise the Ringgit so that it has no value outside Malaysia. You can only spend the Ringgit in the country and not send it to another country.

Next Najib can ban foreign workers and send the ones already in the country home. Then plantations, factories, construction sites, and so on can only employ Malaysians and most likely at double the salaries.

No doubt costs would also increase but at least the money will stay in the country.

Maids will also be banned so Malaysians would no longer have the luxury of maids or domestic workers. Wives would have to stop work and stay home to look after the children, clean the house, wash clothes, cook, and so on.

With the Ringgit no longer having any value outside Malaysia and no more foreign workers in Malaysia, the problem of the outflow of money could, to some extent, be curtailed.

Can Pakatan Rakyat promise Malaysians that if it ever came to power at federal level it would do all this? Foreign workers can no longer send billions home because there would not be any foreign workers in Malaysia and Malaysians cannot invest or buy property overseas because the Ringgit would have zero value outside the country.

No doubt we would face other problems because of this but we shall have to endure that just to make sure that the Ringgit stays in Malaysia. Oh, and of course no one would invest in Malaysia because they will not be allowed to take their money home again.

By equating money being illegally taken out of the country with corruption, the opposition is suggesting that by eliminating corruption this would automatically stop money from leaving Malaysia. This is a gross distortion of what is really happening.

You can eliminate corruption but this will still not stop people from sending their money to another country because not all the money that left Malaysia is dirty money.

And tell me very honestly, are you saying that not a single Pakatan Rakyat supporter has sent his/her money overseas and/or bought property or invested overseas?

*************************************

People will pay the price for Najib's inaction on billions siphoned out of country

(The Malaysian Insider) - Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers have hit out at Putrajaya for its failure to rein in illicit money outflow, with one demanding that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak give up his Finance Minister's post for his failure to stem the tide.

They also said the report by anti-graft watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which revealed that RM174 billion was siphoned out of the country in 2011, making Malaysia the fourth largest exporter of illicit capital that year after Russia, China and India, was justified given the country's "exceptional performance as world champion of corruption".

PKR strategic director and Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said the GFI report confirmed their stand that there is close association between graft and illicit funds that flow out of the country.

He said the GFI report also validated the annual Auditor-General Report, which highlighted and proved that Malaysia has big incidences of graft.

"Najib's stubborness in ignoring the findings of the reports will stagnate the country's economy and will put further strain on the people.

"He should quit as Finance Minister because the large amount of illicit outflow is proof of his failure," Rafizi charged.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said sarcastically that there was no doubt that on a per capita basis, Malaysia won hands down as the "world champion of corruption", validating the new title awarded by Transparency International and Wall Street Journal over the last one year.

The Bagan MP also hit out at the central bank for being incompetent and criminally negligent in stopping the illicit outflow of funds despite setting up a task force in 2010 to implement measures to stop the outflow of dirty money.

"Perhaps Malaysia should follow the British model of creating the world's first central public registry of corporate beneficial ownership information to stop dirty money from going out of the country," he suggested.

His party colleague Tony Pua agreed, adding that despite Bank Negara's meek attempt to impose stricter regulations on moneychangers, including prosecuting some of them, the real culprits behind these illicit flows have not been arrested, charged or jailed.

"The most obvious known case would be the RM10 million illegal transfer by Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Hassan to London, where Putrajaya has charged the money-changer but acquitted the MB," said Pua, who is DAP national publicity chief.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP added that the Barisan Nasional government has continued to be dismissive of the GFI report, with Najib hardly making a whimper over the scandal.

"These massive outflows are detrimental not only because the money will not be consumed and invested to grow the local economy, but more importantly it highlights the extent of unchecked corruption and illicit activities in Malaysia.

"There is clearly no political will to contain and eliminate these illicit outflows, and more importantly, to resolve the underlying illicit and illegal activities," he hit out.

As such, Lim called on the BN government to address "this shameful title" by punishing those responsible for huge financial scandals in the country.

He listed the scandals involving RM52 billion worth of Bumiputera shares, which he alleged that ordinary Malays missed out on as the shares disappeared presumably to BN leaders; the RM14 billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone controversy; and the annual exposes of financial malpractices highlighted in the annual Auditor-General Report, involving some RM6.5 billion in 2012.

(The Star) - DAP's central executive committee (CEC) will continue to be in a "hung" position until the party sends a complete report on its special congress and fresh re-election.

Registrar of Societies (ROS) deputy director-general Alias Mamat said they could not make any decision on the validity of the freshly re-elected CEC because DAP had sent an incomplete report.

"We have asked DAP to immediately give us a full report complete with the list of participating branches and delegates, among others," he said.

He added that DAP should not use delaying tactics if it was serious in wanting to resolve the dispute with disgruntled members as soon as possible.

It is learnt that DAP had only submitted a brief report on its special congress held in September.

DAP held a fresh re-election following complaints lodged by members to ROS against the leadership's move to amend the party election result in January this year that saw Zairil Khir Johari securing an elected position.

Alias said ROS also did not recognise the CEC's move to appoint Zairil as the Kedah DAP chairman to replace democratically elected Lee Guan Aik.

"We have to recognise Lee as the rightful chairman who was elected during the last recognised state party election.

"We made the decision on the Kedah DAP chairman post because we have yet to get a full report with the necessary information on DAP's CEC fresh election," he said.

(The Star) - The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has asked DAP to temporarily halt its newly-elected Central Executive Committee (CEC) fromo making any decisions, but the party is refusing to abide by the directive.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said the party received a letter on Wednesday (Dec 11) dated Dec 6 from ROS, stating that DAP sent in an incomplete report on its special congress and re-election which took place on Sept 29.

He said in the letter, the ROS conveyed that the accompanying report was too brief and asked for additional information on DAP members.

The ROS also advised its CEC not to execute any decisions while it carried out further investigations.

At a press conference on Thursday, Loke, said that DAP would comply with the ROS request for more information, but its CEC would not stop making any decisions.

He also said the letter suggested that the ROS did not recognise the re-elected DAP CEC.

"We cannot and will not accept the directive which requires all CEC members to halt decisions until the completion of ROS investigations. DAP cannot operate in a vacuum," said Loke.

"After the special congress, a new CEC line-up was elected. There is no need for approval from the ROS to make a decisions on behalf of the party. What if the ROS takes months or years to finish their investigations?" he asked.

Loke said that the DAP would not rule out taking the ROS to court to challenge the directive.

The ROS is requesting for a full list of DAP's 2,578 members, along with their branch affiliations and addresses, a full list of 1,740 voting members along with their particulars and a list of 985 branches with an 'A' certification.

In an earlier news report, ROS deputy director-general Alias Mamat was quoted as saying that the DAP employed "delay tactics" in submitting their report.

The special congress to re-elect the CEC was conducted by DAP on Sept 29 after the ROS directed the party to hold fresh polls due reports of a technical glitch in its earlier December 2012 election.

In Malaysia, the passing of South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela has been politicised. Comments from some political parties comparing their party struggles to the life of Mandela have been perceived by critics as inappropriate attempts to leverage political capital.

Melissa Goh, Channel News Asia

In Malaysia, the passing of South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela has been politicised.

Comments from some political parties comparing their party struggles to the life of Mandela have been perceived by critics as inappropriate attempts to leverage political capital.

Such comparisons have been ridiculed and condemned by the public at large.

As the world honoured and paid tribute to a man who has been called a "giant of history", Malaysian politicians were caught up in their own politicking.

Both the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the opposition People's Justice Party (PKR) have been drawing parallels between their own party's struggle and that of Mandela and his ANC party.

Prime Minister Najib Razak at the closing of UMNO's annual congress on Saturday said his party fought for the same cause as Nelson Mandela.

UMNO, he said, should emulate South Africa's ANC party in protecting and nurturing a younger generation of leaders to continue its struggle.

Mr Najib said: "We are saddened and appreciative of him as a freedom fighter, a man of peace. We must pay him tribute because UMNO struggles on the same principle."

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's party poured scorn on Mr Najib's remarks saying that they were an insult to Mandela, as UMNO was essentially a race-based party defending Malay supremacy.

And going even further, PKR claimed it was their leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who more closely embodied Mandela's struggle.

N Surendren, vice president of PKR, said: "It is Anwar's struggle and Keadilan's (PKR's) struggle that has got parallels to Mandela's struggle, because Anwar is the first major Malay politician of national standing who did away with racial politicking and instead said he'd help the people without bothering about their skin colour according to their need.

Referring to ROS' letter received by the party yesterday, he said ROS had requested additional documents from the party to recognise its CEC re-election, and advised the CEC to cease making decisions during the investigations period.

"You are advised to inform your CEC members which has not been recognised not to make any decisions on behalf of the DAP until ROS completes the investigation," the ROS letter said.

Loke said the request is as good as asking the party to operate in a vacuum.

"What does it mean by we cannot make any decision? So our treasurer also cannot sign our cheques? Our office bearers cannot occupy the headquarters?"

"Imagine if ROS makes the investigation for few months and few years, what will happen to the party?" he said, at a media conference at the DAP headquarters here today.

The ROS letter came in a month after DAP submitted its re-election results to the authorities, which had ordered the opposition party to hold re-election citing irregularities in its previous polls.

Loke said DAP has complied with the ROS directive on holding re-election, hence there is no need for further recognition.

"For example Umno, after they hold elections, they will appoint additional members to the supreme council. Do they need ROS to recognise their leadership first before they can do so?" he said.

The Seremban MP said DAP would not rule out challenging ROS directive in court if need arises.

He also said they would continue to take disciplinary action against errant members, many of whom such as Jenice Lee had previously sought ROS' assistance to nullify their sentences.

I care about Malays and that's why I want an open debate to discuss how to really empower the Malay community in the correct, unbigoted, and non-racialised, way. I see changes in values, educational reforms and cultural progress as critical to the development of the Malays. What doesn't work is the mixture of handouts, chest-thumping and looking for imaginary bogeymen under the bed.

Zaid Ibrahim

Of late I've been receiving harsh retorts and brickbats from some Malays. They are upset with my views about UMNO policies, especially my argument that Malays don't need special attention or preferences to empower them or to make them successful. They say I am ungrateful since UMNO made me rich.

The thrust of my argument is that Malays just need fair policies, right attitudes and a good work ethic. We need a Government that gives us fair and equal opportunities to do well. In fact, I think the present preferential policies are too arbitrary and will make Malays fail at their endeavours—with the exception of a lucky few, of course.

Today, I want to reply to the propaganda that I am rich and ungrateful to UMNO. Such attacks are an easy way for UMNO to whip up emotions without acknowledging—let alone responding to—any of my arguments. They like to "shame" their enemies in the eyes of the public so that real issues are forgotten.

I want to remind Malays that they don't need to be "enslaved" by UMNO . There is no need to feel that our whole existence depends on the party. It's this mental slavery that is keeping Malays downtrodden and impoverished. So here is the truth:

I was never a high-ranking official in UMNO despite being a member for 25 years. The best I could achieve was Division Head of Kota Bharu, and that was after 10 years of trying. Three years after that, I was suspended. I was not given a chance to contest the Kota Bharu parliamentary seat in the 2008 elections although I was the incumbent and the first UMNO candidate to have won the seat (in 2004) after 15 years of opposition rule.

As an UMNO Division Head you get to be a Datuk; and yes I got mine from a former Chief Minister of Melaka. So it's true that, if not for UMNO, I would probably be an Encik today.

It's also true that I was made a director of Tenaga Nasional Berhad for three years, and it's probably true that if I had not been an UMNO MP I would probably not have been given this opportunity. It's also true that I was a Minister for nine months, which would not have happened if not for UMNO. But all these appointments did not make me rich. I have never been rich.

I was never an "UMNO lawyer". Yes, legal work for the North-South Highway concession was handled by my firm, but that was because of the kindness of Tan Sri Halim Saad who wanted to help a poor fellow from Kota Bharu start something useful. I did not get UMNO to pressure Halim to appoint me because I didn't know any of the top leaders. I was a nobody.

Yes, I used the opportunity to build the firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co. but I was not (and have never been) an UMNO lawyer. If you want to know the real UMNO lawyers when all the deals were done, you should talk to Tun Zaki Tun Azmi, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaff, Tan Sri Zulhasnan Rafique, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Tan Sri Cecil Abraham and the other big names.

During the 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election (which I lost) the same attacks were thrown at me: I was an ungrateful Melayu who bit the hand that fed me. I asked these accusers to present the list of shares that I allegedly received from them, as well as the projects, concessions, APs, licences and monopolies I supposedly enjoyed. They also claimed I owned some listed companies.

There was no proof because I owned none of these things. So how on earth could I be rich?

What was I supposed to do with APs, concessions and projects anyway? I'm not a businessman. I'm a lawyer with a penchant for getting into trouble. I'd have had to ask a Chinese businessman to run these projects for me, thus contributing to the Ali Baba syndrome that UMNO leaders were railing against at the time.

Similarly, I wouldn't have been able to bear the guilt of depriving genuine Malay entrepreneurs of the opportunity to grow. I really believed then that UMNO wanted to make Malays economically and educationally as strong as—not "stronger than"—everybody else in the greater Malaysian community. To deprive Malays of that opportunity would be a terrible fraud. I'd be guilty of hypocrisy at best, treachery at worst.

So that's why I'm not rich. I like to tell myself that I'm happy, at least.

But the truth is I'm not. The fiction that I'm rich perpetuates the mantra that any Malay who has achieved anything in life owes it all to UMNO. The enslaving of the Malay mind is important for UMNO, so that the whole existence of a Malay is predicated on being subservient to the party.

(NST) - Malaysia is moving into the second phase of the Look East Policy (LEP) which will emphasise on deepening and strengthening certain areas including institutional relationship.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the bilateral relationship would continue to be based on the policy after 30 years of successful collaboration under the first phase of LEP.

Najib said Japan was now the main investor in Malaysia with 1,400 companies operating in the country.

"Their investment in the manufacturing industry alone has reached USD22.2 billion last year," he said in a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe here today.

Najib and Abe earlier held a bilateral meeting at the prime minister's official residence at Nagata-cho here.

Najib said Japanese investors should also move up the value chain and focus on high technology as Malaysia is now undergoing a transformation process to become a developed nation.

"They should leverage on their strength in the areas of green technology and renewable energy, waste disposal and small and medium enterprises," he said.

Najib said the Japanese companies, which are internationally-recognised in coal-fire and high-speed railway technology, could also participate in future infrastructure development in Malaysia through an open bidding system.

He also welcomed Abe's intention to increase the number of scholarships for Asean students to study at the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) in Kuala Lumpur as it would help turn the institution into the hub for technology education in the region.

"Malaysia also supports Japan's intention to increase training with Malaysian maritime agencies and the use of Asean Defence Ministerial Meeting as a platform to discuss future security matters," he said.

Meanwhile, Abe said Japan would continue to assist Malaysia in its effort to become an advanced country by 2020.

He said the foundation of the bilateral relationship between the two countries were based on "a multi-layer of ties and bonds of friendship" that were developed under the LEP.

"We need to establish a framework for the second wave of LEP that Malaysia is pursuing," he said adding that he had also exchanged views with Najib on regional situation since Malaysia will assume Asean chairmanship in 2015.

The Home Ministry has come out with a 10-point evidence list to say that PAS deputy president follows Shiite teachings, which is banned in Malaysia.

(FMT) - The Home Ministry today revealed that PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, more popularly known as Mat Sabu, was involved in Syiah activities which was banned in Malaysia.

Ministry secretary-general Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi said the PAS number two leader was the one referred to by Home Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, at the recent Umno general assembly, of following the banned teachings.

"The statement by the minister regarding a top PAS leader being involved with Syiah teachings is Mat Sabu," he told reporters today.

He claimed that Mat Sabu was involved in Syiah activities connected to the struggle of Iranian revolutionist Ayatollah Ruhullah Musawi al Khomeini.

"Mat Sabu had urged Islamic followers to adopt the Islamic leadership principles based on Imam Khomeini in an article published in Harakah in July 2008.

"He had also expressed his admiration at Khomeini's struggle which had influenced his leadership style during a speech in June 2011," he added.

He also claimed Mat Sabu made a Shiite invocation during a ceramah in Arau, Perlis, in 2005.

Although it was called a press conference to announce evidence of Mat Sabu's involment in Shiism, newsmen were not allowed to ask questions. Abdul Rahim just read a prepared five page statement.

He also claimed that Mat Sabu's invocation evidence came from an interview conducted by the Home Ministry with Kedah Fatwa Council member Abdul Aziz Hanafi.

"All these facts clearly prove that he (Mat Sabu) has connections with the faith and activities of Shiites," Rahim said.

He also quoted the writer of a blog called 'dukeofumno'with a certain Abdul Rahim from Pendang, Kedah who had claimed to have personally witnessed Mat Sabu performing his prayers using a small flat stone, a practice synonymous with Shiites.

He also said in an interview by the Antara Pos portal, Jati deputy president Aidit Ghazali, claimed Mat Sabu to be a 'Shiite icon'.

He alleged that statements obtained from Mat Sabu's friends who were in the same political struggle also showed that he had connections with Shiism.

He claimed that based on the 35 membership cards sent by the DAP headquarters to the branch secretary last Wednesday, the establishment of the Taman Wira branch had been approved on May 13, making it DAP's 1,792nd branch nationwide.

However, he argued that the date of approval was almost a month earlier from the date when the party headquarters had submitted the application forms to set up Taman Wira and several other branches to the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

"The application form for the setting up of the Taman Wira branch was sent by the DAP leadership to RoS on June 7.

"However, all 35 Taman Wira membership cards received last Wednesday revealed that the branch was approved almost a month before the application was sent.

"It does not add up. Considering that RoS had yet to receive the application form in May, the question is, who approved the branch?" he said at the state DAP headquarters in Taman Kristal.

Syed Araniri suggested that DAP had little respect for RoS' authority if it was true that the party was behind the "approval". He urged RoS to investigate the matter to avoid abuse of power among party leaders.

It was reported that the party leaders had said the branch could not be set up, as it did not meet the 50- member requirement.

Following the conflict with the party's leadership, Syed Araniri and 27 Taman Wira branch members decided to quit the party and said they would return their membership cards to the DAP headquarters next week.

"I hereby announce my official resignation, together with 27 others from the Taman Wira branch, from the party.

Malaysia's most exciting political party of the old, United Malays National Organisation (Umno) just had its general assembly. A ritual of the political blood transfusion and the annual health check and administration of medications and treatments of a body politics ageing and grumbling. Too much good food and good life. Too sedentary of a life after its early years of "winning the war of independence" through a victory presented essentially and arguably, on a silver platter.

With the advent of mega-issues such as the most hegemonic and imperialistic US-imposed proposal of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the rise of fascist and hate-mongering groups, the disillusionment about our education system, run amuck and latah behaviors displayed in our Parliament, massive growth of the underclass amongst the overpopulated nation on immigrants shipped en masse to build the country to such giddy heights, a daily rise of cases of mindless crimes, a slackening and weakening school system that is criticised for not preparing the next generation for a competitive economy requiring the cultivation of brainpower, resilience, and a sense of economic republicanism with a heart of social-democraticism, the clamour for a sense of unity reminiscent of the 70s - with all these and more, why are the speeches in this party assembly out of focus?

Here are my questions to the Umno delegates:

Why can't your speeches be about:

Coming up with strategies to create a better understanding between the races, since we've been together for centuries?

Designing our education system to be inclusive of all Malaysians with each race treated on equal terms,

Helping any group progress, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation, since we are all lawful citizens and we are not going back to "where we belong",

Stopping this nonsense called '1Malay' as a greeting since 1Malaysia is already enough as a meaningless slogan and even 1Mandela would be better,

Dismantling all systems that will perpetuate hatred amongst us and redesign our lives around celebrating our strength in diversity,

Find ways to unify all races as one dignified race of Malaysians united against any threats from outside (if there are any real or imagined),

Coming together as Malaysians to redesign our education system that will truly enhance children's understanding of concepts, skills, attitude to become good learners, global and transcultural in outlook, and will grow up to see each other as a human race with a common humane destiny, rather than see more divisions and destructions,

Collaborating with all races to see how best we can help those who are marginalized regardless of race and religion, and how best we can design an economic system that will promote cooperation, collaboration, and the enculturalisation of conscience and conscientiousness amongst us, rather that perpetually create competitions that lead to hatred and warmongering,

Mediating the differences between Muslims of different interpretive practices, schools of thoughts, ways of leading their 'Islamic life' rather than create bogeymen and bogey-women for the purpose of witch-hunting and persecuting each other of the things we cannot fully understand,

Stopping the total closing of the Malay mind by constantly instilling fear of themselves since time immemorial, since feudal times, so that the Malays can be spared of being called stupid, weak, lazy, and dependent on Umno as savior - all these a perfect model of a Master-Slave Narrative.

We need new speeches, Umno, saner ones.

You are a political party more intelligent than this.

Umno is a party my beloved grandfather, a good ol' Johorean, was proud of back in the days of its early struggle, back in Johor Baru where it all started. That was one grandfather whom I saw cried profusely in a corner by his old Sanyo radiogram, the day Abdul Razak Hussein died.

Behave now like an adult, Umno, you are almost 60!

Or - are your days numbered, and better dismantled altogether or reduced to an NGO?